Opinion: Tauranga land supply crisis could have silver lining

The slow crawl into and out of the central business district each day shows the roading network has not kept pace with growth. Photo / File

Part of me is relieved that Tauranga is running out of land to develop.

It's selfish I know, but the city is already struggling with the terrible pains associated with being one of the fastest growing cities in the country.

More homes mean more cars on our roads. The slow crawl into and out of the central business district each day shows the roading network has not kept pace with growth.

I've had to reassess the time I leave for work to factor in the heavy traffic I'll encounter on the way into the city from Pāpāmoa.

Once we could look at Auckland's clogged highways with a mocking eye and question why people chose to live there. Faced with longer and longer commutes to work, many will be asking themselves the same question about life in Tauranga.

This week developers laid out the ramifications if a predicted land supply crisis hits home.

Peter Cooney, of Classic Group, one of New Zealand's largest residential home builders, said if there was no new housing by the end of the year, he would be laying off staff.

Cooney heaped criticism on every level of government, local and regional and central, for failing to address the issue.

Bluehaven chief executive Nathan York said there were only 1300 sections left for development in New Zealand's fifth most populous city.

In contrast, Stats New Zealand estimates the city's population will grow by more than 11,000 people from 2018 to 2023.

Councillors, in turn, blame central Government for failing to make significant investments in infrastructure in roads.

A crisis indeed.

Even if the land was available for new homes, it's hard to see how our city could cope. The lack of infrastructure would likely make it unbearable for those who already call Tauranga home.

The developers are right: central and local government need to get their act together and work together to address the raft of issues now facing the city - many of which had already been predicted.

No one wants to see people losing their jobs, and a further rise in house prices will make it even more difficult for people to get on to the property ladder.

However, a bit of a breather on the housing front could be just what the city needs.

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